assignment 16 - Will Blitch

Global Warming: Humanity’s Most Dangerous Weapon

            Humanity’s capacity for creation is incredible. We have built cities with millions of occupants and vessels capable of traveling through space. Our ability to create is only met by our ability to destroy. We have weapons that can destroy those massive cities, and only recently we have reached a state where we can cause massive and irreparable damage to our own planet.  We are doing this by recklessly polluting the environment, which in turn is causing a rise in the average temperature of Earth. This Global warming is the most pressing issue facing our generation. The longer we wait to take a true, unified stance against global warming the harder it will be to stop.

            To understand the danger of climate change and global warming you first need to know what it is. Global warming, as defined by Alina Bradford with Live Science magazine, is “the gradual warming of Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere.”  This warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. In short the greenhouse effect is the process by which solar radiation is absorbed by the surface of the Earth and converted into heat; this heat is then reflected back into the atmosphere where greenhouse gases trap it. The more abundant the greenhouse gases; the more heat that is trapped. We are currently pumping these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When we burn the fossil fuels that power many of our cars and homes it causes the release of Carbon Dioxide, which is the most commonly discussed greenhouse gas. Most people know about CO2 because, according to Bradford for Live Science magazine, “The burning of fossil fuels is accountable for 27% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.” Which leads to it getting the most press, however there are other major greenhouse gases as well, for example Methane accounts for another 14%  and is produced from agriculture and the decay of organic compounds in landfills. Nitrous oxide also accounts for 8% and is emitted through agricultural and industrial processes. Both Nitrous oxide and Methane are more potent than Carbon Dioxide, meaning that together these two greenhouse gases are much more dangerous than CO2. So the crux of the problem is that a lot of common human actions are causing an increase in the greenhouse effect which is leading to gradual global warming.

            This very real problem that we are currently facing is discounted by a small minority of people who believe that climate change and global warming are a hoax. However according National Geographic over the last century the average temperature of the globe has risen 1 degree Celsius. So we can all agree that climate change is a real thing. Now a more contentious topic is whether or not the climate change we are currently facing is man-made or simply the Earth undergoing natural processes. According to NASA 97% of scientific organizations that actively investigate climate change agree that it is occurring because of humans. Some of these organizations include: The American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Medical Association, and the American Meteorological Society. The few dissenters are organizations that publish highly biased studies that have little basis in actual research or data , for the benefit of fossil fuel companies and other individuals that profit from these companies. and even if we were to entertain the idea that current climate change is occurring natural, it is  irrefutable that humans are at least a factor. And if we are factor then we should do all we can to slow the rate that the globe is heating up.

            So now that we know what global warming is and we can all agree that it is man-made, what are some of its effects? First and foremost the increase in temperature is causing the world’s polar ice to recede. This decrease in ice does two things: since the ice helps absorb some of the planets heat it is causing warming to continue at a faster rate, the other more noticeable effect caused by the recession of the polar ice is rising sea levels. Now rising sea levels are affecting humans in a very real way. A story that aired on PBS in September describes the disheartening tale of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe who have lost 98% of their 15,000 acre land off the coast of Louisiana to rising sea levels in the last 50 years. Now the few members of the tribe that are still residing on the island share less than 1 square mile of land. Global warming is also causing an overall rise in precipitation across the planet, as well as the disruption of ecosystem and destruction of many animal populations.

            So that is what global warming is causing now but what will things look like in the future? Well obviously the Earth’s temperature will continue to rise, and if the 1 degree increase over the past century seemed insignificant, to put things in perspective during the ice age the average temperature of the Earth was only 6 degrees lower than what it is currently. We will also experience an increase in violent and devastating natural disasters; which include forest fires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes. The polar ice will continue to rise and sea levels will creep higher-and-higher. Along with fully destroying the tribal lands in Louisiana rising sea levels can have other devastating effects on humanity. Some of these affects are described by Andrea Pattero in her article for National Geographic; she says that if current rates of global warming continue by 2200 we could possibly see an increase in sea levels by 10 feet. This would cause drastic changes to the population of the world. Many of the major cities on the East coast of the United States would be flooded, 79% of Bangladesh would be underwater, much of Japan and Korea would flood, and many of Europe’s coastal cities would be submerged.

             It is naive to think that we could completely stop global warming; as long as the population continues to rise it is inevitable that we will cause climate change. However, as the generation that will soon become the stewards of Earth we have a responsibility to try our best to combat climate change. Some strategies to slow the rate of global warming include: placing limits on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we allow, increase our energy efficiency, and expand the role of renewable forms of energy. Global Warming is a threat that we cannot continue to push aside. It is a monster that we have created and unless we start to put plans in motion this monster will drastically alter the world that our great grandchildren are left to experience.

           

             

Bibliography

Bradford, Alina. "What Is Global Warming?" LiveScience. Purch, 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.

"Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate Is Warming." NASA. NASA, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.

Society, National Geographic. "Global Warming Solutions, Is It Real? - National Geographic."                     National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.